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Haiku Poems

Haiku dates back to 16th century Japan, though in the English-speaking world it has only been present for the last 130 years or so. It’s increasingly building up interest in the West, thus nowadays haiku is the most popular form of poetry on the web.

The traditional structure for a haiku poem consists of three lines, with five syllables for the first and third lines and seven syllables for the middle. Although using 5-7-5 is no longer considered to be the rule for haiku in English, it’s still often taught that way to children in school.